Which driver version do you use for your graphics cards?

Disruptor wrote on 2026-03-27, 01:43:

Which driver version do you use for your graphics cards?

56.64 on both.

Nice build, I didn't know 440BX boards could be had with 4 RAM slots.

Very interesting that the 4200 seems to beat the 5900XT in most win9x era benchmarks. That's despite the fact you are using the same drivers for both. The gap may be even wider if you used older drivers on the 4200.

With two 133 MHz memory sticks, the CUBX should made the 133 MHz bus without any problems at all.
It’s just that the official Coppermine models only went up to 1.1 GHz; the 1.133 GHz versions were recalled.
If you want to stick with the Coppermine core, look for a lower-end model in the series.
For example, the 750 MHz version should support a 133 MHz FSB without any problems at all. Or a Tualatin with a soldered bridge pcb.

shevalier wrote on 2026-03-27, 06:24:

With two 133 MHz memory sticks, the CUBX should made the 133 MHz bus without any problems at all. It’s just that the official Co […]
Show full quote

With two 133 MHz memory sticks, the CUBX should made the 133 MHz bus without any problems at all.
It’s just that the official Coppermine models only went up to 1.1 GHz; the 1.133 GHz versions were recalled.
If you want to stick with the Coppermine core, look for a lower-end model in the series.
For example, the 750 MHz version should support a 133 MHz FSB without any problems at all. Or a Tualatin with a soldered bridge pcb.

Indeed that board does work fine at 133 fsb and with that 5900xt card, I've used it for years with a 1.4 P3-S and a powerleap adapter.

pete8475 wrote on 2026-03-27, 10:40:

shevalier wrote on 2026-03-27, 06:24:

With two 133 MHz memory sticks, the CUBX should made the 133 MHz bus without any problems at all. It’s just that the official Co […]
Show full quote

With two 133 MHz memory sticks, the CUBX should made the 133 MHz bus without any problems at all.
It’s just that the official Coppermine models only went up to 1.1 GHz; the 1.133 GHz versions were recalled.
If you want to stick with the Coppermine core, look for a lower-end model in the series.
For example, the 750 MHz version should support a 133 MHz FSB without any problems at all. Or a Tualatin with a soldered bridge pcb.

Indeed that board does work fine at 133 fsb and with that 5900xt card, I've used it for years with a 1.4 P3-S and a powerleap adapter.

Based on my experience and experiments with the i815, the Pentium 3 1+ GHz suffers from a critical lack of FSB speed.
In other words, the P3E 1000 (124 MHz FSB) and the P3E 850 (140 MHz FSB, assuming it boots at that frequency) will deliver different performance levels despite having similar core frequencies (~1.2GHz).
For a CUBX with two CL2 memory stick, 140 MHz is a perfectly achievable goal.

Man, every time I read a New post about computer builds I get the urge to build another one.
But I have run out of room to store them.

shevalier wrote on 2026-03-27, 11:11:

Based on my experience and experiments with the i815, the Pentium 3 1+ GHz suffers from a critical lack of FSB speed. In other […]
Show full quote

pete8475 wrote on 2026-03-27, 10:40:

shevalier wrote on 2026-03-27, 06:24:

With two 133 MHz memory sticks, the CUBX should made the 133 MHz bus without any problems at all. It’s just that the official Co […]
Show full quote

With two 133 MHz memory sticks, the CUBX should made the 133 MHz bus without any problems at all.
It’s just that the official Coppermine models only went up to 1.1 GHz; the 1.133 GHz versions were recalled.
If you want to stick with the Coppermine core, look for a lower-end model in the series.
For example, the 750 MHz version should support a 133 MHz FSB without any problems at all. Or a Tualatin with a soldered bridge pcb.

Indeed that board does work fine at 133 fsb and with that 5900xt card, I've used it for years with a 1.4 P3-S and a powerleap adapter.

Based on my experience and experiments with the i815, the Pentium 3 1+ GHz suffers from a critical lack of FSB speed.
In other words, the P3E 1000 (124 MHz FSB) and the P3E 850 (140 MHz FSB, assuming it boots at that frequency) will deliver different performance levels despite having similar core frequencies (~1.2GHz).
For a CUBX with two CL2 memory stick, 140 MHz is a perfectly achievable goal.

I might buy a 100mhz fsb P3-900 and see if I can get that stable at 1.2. That way everything is in spec except agp (this card is fine with 89mhz agp) and it obviously would downclock nicely to 600mhz (66mhz fsb) as well.

RetroPCCupboard wrote on 2026-03-27, 05:44:

Very interesting that the 4200 seems to beat the 5900XT in most win9x era benchmarks. That's despite the fact you are using the same drivers for both. The gap may be even wider if you used older drivers on the 4200.

I'll update with test results using 45.23 on the ti4200 shortly.

pete8475 wrote on 2026-03-27, 22:08:

shevalier wrote on 2026-03-27, 11:11:

Based on my experience and experiments with the i815, the Pentium 3 1+ GHz suffers from a critical lack of FSB speed. In other […]
Show full quote

pete8475 wrote on 2026-03-27, 10:40:

Indeed that board does work fine at 133 fsb and with that 5900xt card, I've used it for years with a 1.4 P3-S and a powerleap adapter.

Based on my experience and experiments with the i815, the Pentium 3 1+ GHz suffers from a critical lack of FSB speed.
In other words, the P3E 1000 (124 MHz FSB) and the P3E 850 (140 MHz FSB, assuming it boots at that frequency) will deliver different performance levels despite having similar core frequencies (~1.2GHz).
For a CUBX with two CL2 memory stick, 140 MHz is a perfectly achievable goal.

I might buy a 100mhz fsb P3-900 and see if I can get that stable at 1.2. That way everything is in spec except agp (this card is fine with 89mhz agp) and it obviously would downclock nicely to 600mhz (66mhz fsb) as well.

The thing with 900/100s is that there were never sold many back in the day, I have yet to come across one for a price, I'm comfortable paying ..

H3nrik V! wrote on 2026-03-29, 06:41:

pete8475 wrote on 2026-03-27, 22:08:

shevalier wrote on 2026-03-27, 11:11:

Based on my experience and experiments with the i815, the Pentium 3 1+ GHz suffers from a critical lack of FSB speed.
In other words, the P3E 1000 (124 MHz FSB) and the P3E 850 (140 MHz FSB, assuming it boots at that frequency) will deliver different performance levels despite having similar core frequencies (~1.2GHz).
For a CUBX with two CL2 memory stick, 140 MHz is a perfectly achievable goal.

I might buy a 100mhz fsb P3-900 and see if I can get that stable at 1.2. That way everything is in spec except agp (this card is fine with 89mhz agp) and it obviously would downclock nicely to 600mhz (66mhz fsb) as well.

The thing with 900/100s is that there were never sold many back in the day, I have yet to come across one for a price, I'm comfortable paying ..

Good to know, I haven't even looked yet to be honest.

Intel486dx33 wrote on 2026-03-27, 11:52:

Man, every time I read a New post about computer builds I get the urge to build another one.
But I have run out of room to store them.

Have you got a list of your builds somewhere? Love seeing machine specs.

Looking forward to seeing 45.23 / ti4200 results

zuldan wrote on 2026-03-29, 06:55:

Looking forward to seeing 45.23 / ti4200 results

They are in the first post.

pete8475 wrote on 2026-03-29, 07:47:

zuldan wrote on 2026-03-29, 06:55:

Looking forward to seeing 45.23 / ti4200 results

They are in the first post.

Nice. Apart from Quake III, all benchmarks were higher with the older driver.

RetroPCCupboard wrote on 2026-03-29, 09:21:

pete8475 wrote on 2026-03-29, 07:47:

zuldan wrote on 2026-03-29, 06:55:

Looking forward to seeing 45.23 / ti4200 results

They are in the first post.

Nice. Apart from Quake III, all benchmarks were higher with the older driver.

Yep, I'm likely going to leave the ti4200 in there with the 45.23 driver unless there's another version worth testing. I have a P4 for playing the DX9 games anyway.

There's not much airflow in this case, eventually I'll cut out the fan opening on the back to allow more. So I've gone ahead and attached a fan to the side of the Zalman cooler on the ti4200, the fx5900xt has a fan so it seemed fine.

Also the soundcard kept ending up with a weird irq when the isa nic was in here so I've swapped that out for a pci nic and now the soundcard plays nicer with dos games.

pete8475 wrote on 2026-03-27, 22:08:

I might buy a 100mhz fsb P3-900 and see if I can get that stable at 1.2. That way everything is in spec except agp (this card is fine with 89mhz agp) and it obviously would downclock nicely to 600mhz (66mhz fsb) as well.

CUBX is a 133Mhz FSB board, 1Ghz@133 is the best choice. It may be possible to run it at 500Mhz with 66Mhz FSB. 100Mhz FSB versions suffer from FSB overload at about 900Mhz and higher.

My PIII 900 is enough for the whole Windows 98 era and very early Windows XP (~2002).

fx5900xt is for P4/Athlon XP/Athlon 64 (s754). If you want to max it out in Windows 98 then get Athlon 64 with AGP. GeForce 4200ti is a good match for PIII.

H3nrik V! wrote on 2026-03-29, 06:41:

The thing with 900/100s is that there were never sold many back in the day, I have yet to come across one for a price, I'm comfortable paying ..

That's why I got an extra PIII 900 while they were cheaper. I have also seen 1.1Ghz@100 on sale, but those are even more rare.